Echoes from the Holocaust: Philosophical Reflections on a Dark Time

Front Cover
Temple University Press, 2009 - 472 pages
The murder of six million Jewish men, women, and children during World War II was an act of such barbarity as to constitute one of the central events of our time; yet a list of the major concerns of professional philosophers since 1945 would exclude the Holocaust. This collection of twenty-three essays, most of which were written expressly for this volume, is the first book to focus comprehensively on the profound issues and philosophical significance of the Holocaust. The essays, written for general as well as professional readers, convey an extraordinary range of factual information and philosophical reflection in seeking to identify the haunting meanings of the Holocaust. Among the questions addressed are: How should philosophy approach the Holocaust? What part did the philosophical climate play in allowing Hitlerism its temporary triumph? What is the philosophical climate today and what are its probable cultural effects? Can philosophy help our culture to become a bulwark against future agents of evil? The multiple dimensions of the Holocaust-historical, sociological, psychological, religious, moral, and literary-are collected here for concentrated philosophical interpretations.
 

Contents

THE HOLOCAUST AS HISTORY
3
Assault on Morality
51
HOLOCAUST Moral Indifference as the Form of Modern Evil
53
WHAT PHILOSOPHY CAN AND CANNOT SAY ABOUT EVIL
91
LIBERALISM AND THE HOLOCAUST An Essay on Trust and the BlackJewish Relationship
105
THE DILEMMA OF CHOICE IN THE DEATHCAMPS
118
ON THE IDEA OF MORAL PATHOLOGY
128
THE RIGHT WAY TO ACT Indicting the Victims
149
THE CONCEPT OF GOD AFTER AUSCHWITZ A Jewish Voice
292
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MAN AFTER AUSCHWITZ
306
CONCENTRATION CAMPS AND THE END OF THE LIFEWORLD
327
LANGUAGE AND GENOCIDE
341
Challenges to the Understanding
363
SOCIAL SCIENCE TECHNIQUES AND THE STUDY OF CONCENTRATION CAMPS
365
THE CRISIS IN KNOWING AND UNDERSTANDING THE HOLOCAUST
379
THE POLITICS OF SYMBOLIC EVASION Germany and the Aftermath of the Holocaust
396

ON LOSING TRUST IN THE WORLD
163
ETHICS EVIL AND THE FINAL SOLUTION
181
Echoes from the Death Camps
199
THE HOLOCAUST AS A TEST OF PHILOSOPHY
201
THE HOLOCAUST AND HUMAN PROGRESS
223
THE HOLOCAUST MORAL THEORY AND IMMORAL ACTS
245
TECHNOLOGY AND GENOCIDE Technology as a Form of Life
262
THE ABUSE OF HOLOCAUST STUDIES Mercy Killing and the Slippery Slope
412
THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF THE HOLOCAUST Tightening up Some Loose Usage
421
STUDYING THE HOLOCAUSTS IMPACT TODAY Some Dilemmas of Language and Method
432
THE CONTRIBUTORS
443
INDEX
447
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About the author (2009)

Alan Rosenberg is a Lecturer in the Philosophy Department at Queens College of the City University of New York.

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